Man with knife shot at Amsterdam airport, officials say

A man carrying a knife was shot and detained by military police on Friday at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

The incident, which sparked a brief evacuation of parts of the airport, was not being treated as an extremist attack.

“The circumstances are telling us that it has nothing to do with terrorism,” said Stan Verberkt, a spokesman for the Marechaussee military police service whose armed officers patrol Schiphol.

The man was arrested and then taken to an Amsterdam hospital as police began investigations at the scene and travellers who had been ushered outside were allowed back into the airport.

It was unclear why the man threatened police. Verberkt said the suspect would be interrogated once he had received treatment at the hospital.

“We … have many questions,” Verberkt said.

The military police later tweeted that the suspect was a 29-year-old man from The Hague, who was known to police due to earlier violent incidents at Schiphol. The police did not elaborate.

The incident did not have any effect on flight departures and arrivals, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported, citing a Schiphol representative. Trains were briefly ordered not to stop at the airport’s underground station.

Schiphol is one of Europe’s busiest airports and Friday is one of its busiest days of the week.

In April 2016, a drunken Polish man sparked a major security alert at Schiphol when he claimed to be a terrorist.

Heavily armed military police, wearing body armour and ski masks, patrolled Schiphol for four hours while the man’s bags were checked.